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The social gaming company Zynga offered $1 billion in cash to acquire PopCap Games, but was turned down in favor of a more complex and potentially more lucrative offer from Electronic Arts, according to a source close to the deal.

PopCap this week agreed to be acquired for $650 million in cash, $100 million in EA stock and up to another $550 million based on the performance of the business over the first two years after completion of the deal, for a potential payout of $1.3 billion.

The source said Zynga would have financed the deal at least in part with a line of credit supplied by Goldman Sachs, which is among the underwriters leading the company's pending initial public offering. I'd also note that as of March 31, according to the prospectus for the IPO, Zynga had just shy of $1 billion in cash on its balance sheet.

The same source says there was at least one other bidder for the company, possibly the China-based Internet company TenCent, but that final bidding came down to Zynga and EA.

I'm seeking comment from Zynga, and will pass along their response as soon as I have it.

Update: A Zynga spokesman responded that the company is not commenting.